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Thea limped over and sat next to Eve, holding her paw up for inspection. It’s day number four and her “cast” is a little tattered and torn, but still in place.
“She’s been basking in all the extra attention.”
“How long does she have to keep it on?”
“My goal is until tomorrow, but the longer she leaves the nail alone, the better.”
Eve lives along the shore and normally when we come here, Thea likes to explore at the edge of the water, but I don’t want her doing that today. Instead, I gestured for her to follow Eve up the steps and onto the deck.
We generally go out to dinner on Thursday nights, but I didn’t want to leave Thea alone. If left to her own devices, I’m sure she’d immediately chew her bandage off. Eve’s fiancé Max is gone camping with his friends so she asked if I’d want to come over and throw some steaks on the grill instead.
Eve went inside then came back out carrying a platter holding steaks and potatoes.
“What can I do to help?”
“Grab the wine off the counter,” she said as she opened the grill.
Thea had settled in the corner of the deck and was content watching the waves while I went inside. She didn’t even look at me when I came back out.
Eve had already set the table and I poured each of us a glass of wine then sat. She closed the grill and joined me. After she set the timer on her phone, she picked up her wine glass and held it up to toast.
“To the end of the work day.”
“Amen to that.” I clinked my glass against hers and took a long drink. “I know why I’m glad my day is over. What about you?”
“Nothing as heroic as you,” she said. “I got all my yucky admin stuff done.”
Eve is a best-selling romance author, which makes her the coolest person I know. I was shocked when I found out how much time she spends on non-writing tasks.
“Nothing I did today was especially heroic, but I was vomited and pooped on.” She crinkled her nose. “That’s actually why I was late. I ran home to take a quick shower and change.”
Her phone timer dinged and she got up to flip the steaks. My mouth watered at the smell. We both eat our steaks rare, so thankfully they won’t take too long to cook.
“Since we brought up the wordhero,” she said as she sat back down. “You owe me details about how Adam helped you and Thea.”
I’d given her the basic facts about what happened and promised to fill her in on the rest tonight. And here we are.
“There’s not a whole lot to tell. Thea and I went on our usual hike and Adam was there. She broke her nail and he carried her back to the car.”
“I’m going to grab the salad and when I get back, you’re going to fill me in on what you justyadda-yadda-yadda’dover. I have questions.”
While I appreciate herSeinfeldreference, I’m not going to enjoy giving her details. Not that there’s a whole lot to tell, but there’d definitely been a vibe.
The timer went off again just as Eve returned and placed the salad in the center of the table. She went over and checked on the steaks. Seemingly satisfied, she turned off the grill, then reached over and grabbed the plates from the table. After placing a steak and potato on each, she set them back down and settled across from me once again.
I had a busy day and only managed to eat a half of a bagel for lunch, so I’m starving. And
Eve seemed just as eager to eat. So after we each scooped salad onto our plates, we both dug in, then ate in silence until I was about halfway through my steak.
“So,” she said. “You were walking on the trail and Adam just happened along?”
I finished chewing and swallowed, then took a sip of wine.
“No. We were walking, then Thea stopped and went on full alert before taking off. She’s never left my side when we go there. I was worried she was chasing an animal and was going to get lost or hurt.”
“But she was just after Adam.”
“Apparently.” I finished my wine then re-filled my glass and topped off Eve’s. “When I got to our usual break spot, she was on her back and he was rubbing her belly.”
